It is almost a guarantee that on any given weekend, posts across the country are conducting a fundraiser for the Legacy Fund, organizing a welcome-home celebration for a returning soldier, or going door to door to catch up with former members. Every fall, the Legiontown campaign – started by National Headquarters in 2009 – serves as a banner under which these activities can be more concentrated, and posts can conduct local events to enhance their (and the Legion's) public image in their communities.

The campaign runs roughly from Sept. 16 – traditionally the day Congress designates by resolution as "The American Legion Day" – through November, Membership Retention Month. Congress has not passed such a resolution for this year, but posts are encouraged to have it enacted in their communities. Events can be organized around the month of September as National Disaster Preparedness Month; Patriot Day, Sept. 11; Halloween; Veterans Day; and more.

The Public Relations Division has put together a kit of booklets and guides to assist posts in putting together their Legiontown campaigns, available to any Legionnaire free of charge. The kit contains a campaign guide with milestones, pointers, checklists and contact information; a PR handbook, applicable year-round for every facet of post operations; a copy of the Four Pillars booklet; a Disaster Preparedness Program booklet; and a general Legiontown booklet with numerous examples of posts' good deeds. The kit can be requested by email (PR@legion.org[2]), or by calling (317) 630-1253. The contents can also be downloaded, free of charge, from here[3] or here[4].

All posts are invited to register on the Legiontown website[5] and share the stories of the good they do and the successes they have, both during the campaign and throughout the year.